A&M-Corpus Christi falls in Cutter finals

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi coach Ronnie Arrow
saw a silver lining in his team's 95-75 spanking at the hands of
Missouri State on Saturday night in the championship game of the Price
Cutter Classic tournament.

It's the one and only time he'll have to face Missouri State's Blake
Ahearn.

The junior guard lit up the Islanders for a career-high 32 points,
including six 3-pointers.

"He's a junior?" Arrow asked after the game. "Well, he won't be here
the next time we come to play."

But Arrow, whose team lost two straight the last time it appeared in
the tournament five years ago, said he's happy his club made it to the
championship game.

"We got to play in a basketball atmosphere and in the championship
game. Our guys are young and we've got to learn from this type of
game," said Arrow, who was hit with a technical foul in the first
half.

Missouri State was off and running through most of the game.

The Bears pushed their 48-31 halftime lead to 52-31 on back-to-back
scores by Nathan Bilyeu.

Josh Ervin scored 10 of the Islanders' first 15 points, including
five straight that included a 3-pointer and a 2-point basket to cut
Missouri State's lead to 52-36 with 17:22 left. His last 3-pointer of
the 10-point outburst cut Missouri State's lead to 62-46 with 14:20
left.

But the Bears responded with a 20-10 run, with 12 points coming from
Ahearn, to push to an 82-56 lead with 7:29 left and Corpus Christi was
unable to mount a rally.

The Bears looked like they were going to shoot the Islanders off the
floor with four of their first six baskets coming from the 3-point line
as Missouri State look at early 20-9 lead.

A&M-Corpus Christi's Cedric Smith, who was named to the
all-tournament team, finished with 14 points. Chris Daniels led all
Islanders scorers with 18. Ervin had 12 and White had 11.